COLUMN: Our economy needs a skilled capitalist

Monday

Sep 24, 2012 at 12:01 AMSep 24, 2012 at 3:37 PM

The American people are confused.

Larry Shull

There are the loyalists of both parties that permit no facts to interfere with their absolute conviction that “their” party is right, and the other party is wrong and perhaps evil to boot. So we must rely on the remaining “thinking” Americans to achieve some clarity as regards the underlying economic issues that are stirring the pot of confusion and angst. Good luck with that, as they say.

To even venture into such deep waters is fraught with hazards from the left to the right. Centrists want only moderate changes, and hope that small changes, where the fallacies of both left and right can be combined, will achieve a “balance.” But a balance between the therapeutic and the poisonous can at best only prolong economic decline, not stop it.

A surgeon, detecting obstruction to blood flow, removes the obstruction and observes the deprived organ “pinking up.” Elation follows: He has fixed the problem. An economy that is gasping for the oxygen of capital needs a capitalist skilled at directing money toward viable businesses. It is well-run businesses that will elevate the economy. But central planners lack the surgical skill of individual capitalists who have already earned their bona fides in the private marketplace.

Ultimately, an economy grows, one business at a time. Ask a businessman what he needs, and then respond to his need. But don’t imagine that government knows what that need is or how best to supply it. If government disappeared, how would business succeed? As a matter of fact, that is the early history of the United States. Before there was a government, there were people. They were doing what people do: striving to succeed, getting help from family and friends, churches and charities, but not expecting help from government. There was no government in any way resembling the modern leviathan in Washington.

The founding fathers devised a constitution whose aim was to keep the federal government small, They knew it would inexorably grow, diminishing the liberty of the citizens. It did, and it is now eating us alive with its greed for power and resources extracted from the sweat of our brow. Enough.

Government cannot do what government claims it can do: Grow the economy and create jobs. Government can pour money into government jobs and direct money to favored industries, but that leaves out the vast majority of small businesses that are the backbone of economic growth. These are being smothered by regulations and taxes.

Unions benefited under Barack Obama. But then unions contribute heavily to the Democratic Party; so if this looks like a payoff or a bribe. Let those with open minds draw their own conclusions. If Solyndra received $500,000,000 from Barack Obama, and its CEO just happened to contribute hundreds of thousands to Obama’s campaign, there might be a quid pro quo. You decide. By these means government’s power grows, and the individual’s freedom recedes.

Successful businesses do not need government help. They need government restraint. Government bleeds resources from the successful and directs them to the failures, depleting economic growth in the process. Do you want more failures or more successes? You decide.